Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for June 27, 2018

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    BE THIS GUY  over 6 years ago

    I’d be willing to work with Rat on strengthening one of those traits.

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    knight1192a  over 6 years ago

    Not sure about this list. I expect some of the great writers weren’t naturally talented and had to work twice as hard to make up for that. Some were so naturally talented that they didn’t really need to work very hard. Seriously doubt they were all hard drinkers. And quite a few only became great writers long after their deaths; in their lifetimes they met with little success but some of what they wrote was just barely successful enough to be kept around for a later generation to discover them and proclaim their greatness. Basically, their stuff became a cult classic of it’s day only to later be declared great literature.

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    Strawberry Hellcat: Gair I gall, ffon I’r anghall  over 6 years ago

    Hemingway is a difficult standard to live up to…or at least to stand upright and walk a straight line to.

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    ND Cool Z  over 6 years ago

    I’m the opposite of Rat; I would check #1 and #2.

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    alaskajohn1  over 6 years ago

    I don’t believe Rat will reach the other two.

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    sirbadger  over 6 years ago

    Hard-Drinking. Are we talking about coffee or alcohol?

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    Liverlips McCracken Premium Member over 6 years ago

    Rat is a third of the way there, and has been since we were introduced.

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    Bilan  over 6 years ago

    Numbers 1 and 2 can be replaced by a great PR agent.

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    Gent  over 6 years ago

    You’re a hard-drinking from the sewer vermin.

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    mjb515  over 6 years ago

    Need to develop at least one more. Otherwise you are just another drunk.

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    chris_weaver  over 6 years ago

    Pulitzer Prize, here we(hic!) come!

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    dlkrueger33  over 6 years ago

    Just saw a really good DVD called “The Man Who Invented Christmas”. It is the story of Charles Dickens and how he came to write the beloved tale “A Christmas Carol”. The story shows how the characters developed, through pressure to finish the commissioned work. I highly recommend! (It’s available in libraries).

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    jel354  over 6 years ago

    Rat is naturally talented at hard drinking.

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    F-Flash  over 6 years ago

    Sometimes you have to rely on what you are really good at. Maybe he could write country and western songs. Pop a top again.

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    Willywise52 Premium Member over 6 years ago

    Write what you know,it’s a start.

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    rshive  over 6 years ago

    At least it’s the good third, Rat.

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    Ermine Notyours  over 6 years ago

    Reminds me of the t-shirt I saw in junior high school: “I lift weights 12 ounces at a time,” and shows a man lifting a beer can.

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    the lost wizard  over 6 years ago

    Good for rat. Start at the bottom and work your way up.

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    billdaviswords  over 6 years ago

    I’m amazed that the ever-humble Rat didn’t also check #1.

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    ronmor1  over 6 years ago

    https://youtu.be/N_wikdQ2Z0A

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    Lablubber   over 6 years ago

    It wush a dark and shtormy night…

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    Johnny on the Spot  over 6 years ago

    Way to go Rat. Look for the positives.

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    B UTTONS  over 6 years ago

    Rat flushed out another characteristic to the dysfunctional Congress. None are naturally talented. None are hard working. All ACE wining and dining.

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    Bookworm  over 6 years ago

    Talent is actually a pretty common commodity, not just in writing but in any of the arts. But all the talent in the world won’t do it alone. Writing is a craft. Writers write; daily, sometimes for hours on end. Most of it turns out to be rubbish. In the same way, a carpenter works for years honing his techniques and skills. If there’s talent, maybe, just maybe, once in a great while, something wonderful is created. As to the hard drinking, I cannot say. But I’ll quietly suggest that it might be similar to any other occupation, avocation, or profession – that it’s probably not a good idea during working hours.

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    gopher gofer  over 6 years ago

    ⇧ @knight

    it’s the bloody-minded who never seem to get the joke, wouldn’t you agree…?

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    Sisyphos  over 6 years ago

    Your first step is said to be the hardest, but in this case, I’m not so sure, Rat….

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    alantain  about 1 year ago

    There is but one common trait of all good writers. Correct spelling!

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